Robin van Nursie

The deadly Dutchman returned to action against the Spuds at Ashburton Grove on Wednesday night but was withdrawn at half time after a display in the first period which showed the player was clearly unfit.

RvP has now been ruled out of tomorrows game against Birmingham not only with a minor injury but also with a dose of the flu.

Le Boss doesn't know how serious his injury is due to his rabies or what ever it is he's got, but believes it is only 'minor'.

Speaking with ATVO AW said, "There is no real news because he got flu overnight, he is in bed and the doctor has gone over to see him. That means he is out for Saturday`s game anyway. But we don`t believe it is a real recurrence of the injury and it might be minor."

The amount of time Rob is spending on the treatment table is quite worrying. With obvious class and talent to be one of the top strikers in the game, we really need him on the pitch for more than 45 minutes at a time.

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lol ridiculous situation this, I'm losing all hope that he can develop into the player his potential suggests. The man is made of glass, okay this time its a bout of the flu but my guess is he is still injured.

The thing is, if he went down with flu immediately after the game, it would suggest the virus was there on Wednesday night, which would have made his muscles weaker. I'm still not too worried. His absence has given Bendtner and Eduardo a chance to shine which could come in useful at the end of the season.

I'd play Eduardo & Bendtner for the first half tomorrow & then give Theo a 45 minute role as a striker in the second half. He's clearly never going to be a winger, so he needs the opportunities whilst players are injured to show that he is capable, if not then obviously come the summer Wenger needs to look at other options. I think we'll struggle tomorrow because the players that have basically had a 2 week break never come back & straight into form, so I just hope Wenger's plans don't backfire on him. Birmingham may be rubbish, but they don't seem to be conceding too many goals.

I still think Phil can come good with a run of games. The form he has shown before was so astounding when he had a run, that I refuse to believe it was down to luck, there was a hell of a lot of qulaity there. What works against him is that he's never gonna get past two such top defenders as Toure and Gallas, so maybe he's be better at another club where he can play regularly. I still rate him.

What is also notable with Phil is that in his last few games, at Burnley, Blackburn and Tottenham he started badly, but got better and better as the game went on. This points to the fact that he needs to establish a rhythm in his game. Once he does, he is invariably good.

With Burnley and Blackburn I agree, but I thought Phil was playing really well at the start of the Tottenham and went down hill from there. I felt the same as you for ages LD, but as time passes by I'm begining to think that Senderos' magnificent run a while ago was him at the peak of his game, a peak that he isn'table to susstain. To challenge for honours we need players who are going to perform for the majority of the time and only ocassionally have off days, not the other way round. He can be a good player for us, but time is running out, unless he turns it around soon, we'll need to look elsewhere. Though I do aplaud Phil attitude, many players could do well to copy his work ethic.

I was thinking along the lines of Michael Owen when I mentioned the development thing Rock. He had the potential to become one of the greats before all his injury problems. No offence to the guy, he's still pretty good now, but it's that kind of decline I'm worried about for Van Persie should he continue with all these injury problems. I think we should bring in Akinbiyi as cover, just in case..........okay, okay I'm just kidding lol.

RvP has been unlucky with injuries - it happens. These are recurring problems and there doesn't seem to be any physiological reason for it just bad luck. It is hard to be a back up centre back. You really need to have a run of games in order to be comfortable with the players around you. Senderos is a good defender. He doesn't lack pace as some claim he just needs a decent run of games. He has had good stints in the past as cover for the injury prone Campbell the season before last for example. It has taken a good 4 months for some to even start to think that Almunia may be ok after all. It will take at least as long a run for many to start to have some confidence in Senderos.

Why's RvP always injured but always recover just in time to play for Holland just to get injured and out for us again? I'm being very optimistic - I hope he'll come back in time for the Milan game (20 Feb). We can cope in attack well enough with Ade, Eduardo, Bendtner, maybe Theo up front in some games. Just need the best of our strikers, RvP, to rest really well and fully recover for Milan. That's my hope - optimistic enough?

LD, regarding your point that Senderos gets better as the games go on, it may also have a large amount to do with the fact that the opposition get tired as the game goes on, especially as against us most teams spend a lot of time chasing the ball & tire quicker.........Amos, I trust you were joking when you said Senderos doesn't lack pace?? He makes the slowest strikers in the league look like Thierry Henry at his peak. Senderos is a great defender as long as the opposition's strikers can't jump, don't have any strength & can't run. In all honesty, Senderos would probably be much more suited to the French league or the Spanish league where pace isn't so important (as proved by Cygan being a standout defender in both leagues).

I reckon that Senderos is as fast or faster over the ground than Alex, Terry, Ben Haim, Vidic, Carragher, Hyppia for example. He would definitely have left Adams and Bould gasping for breath in any speed trials. You have clearly have your mind firmly made up about Senderos and maybe you are right. Time will tell. My mind is still open. I think there is some quality there and at 22 he is young enough to improve.

Hmm I guess Senderos doesn't lack 'pace' as in purely physical running speed of his feet in general. But he does lack the 'pace' as in responding fast to the opponents' attack, turning his back, chasing them and blocking. That response time is slow in my opinion - he takes a second or two to just track back and react to a forward's run. If you know what I mean.

RVP's constant injuries are getting very annoying, you almost forget he is on the team with all the injuries he has. In terms of Senderos, i doubt he will ever make it at Arsenal, as Lou said his responses are too slow.

RVP's injuries are like Owen's. He often gets injured in different places that keeps him out until the internationals - in which he gets injured again. I'm sick of it and think that those numbskulls at the Netherlands FA should start giving compensation to us...

can't understand why english clubs unable to win european honour! compare to Italian and spanish we are more better team in europe! we won more stuff then english clubs..so I don't think your club Arsenal is a big club or anywhere near the big european clubs! can't remember the last time arsenal win anything in Europe!!! poor you...please don't think you are a big club cos big club always win stuff in europe...unfortunately arsenal is not!! hey plus England didn't even qualify for EURO 2008! hahahah and also now need an italian to help you and teach you to play football!! so you need us to teach you how to win stuff? and begging us!!!lol come on just accept that Italian football is better than your country England!

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